The first new style Club World Cup for clubs will be played in June 2025. No less than 32 clubs will then compete for the title, which will only be at stake once every four years.
FIFA unveils new format for World Cup for clubs with 32 teams
FIFA is moving away from the current structure of the World Cup for clubs, which is still held every year. The most recent edition was won by Real Madrid on February 11. Only seven clubs took part in the tournament. The world football association believes that the potential of the World Cup is insufficiently exploited with the current set-up.
The four most recent Champions League winners will participate in the new World Cup. The other European participants are determined on the basis of the club ranking, which is compiled on the basis of the performances in the European tournaments in the past four years. In continental federations that are only allowed to send four teams, the clubs that have won the last four editions of the highest ranked club tournament will receive an invitation. The host country is allowed to send one team anyway.
There is a limit of two participating clubs per country. Unless more than two teams from a given country have been particularly successful in the four-year period. They must have been tournament winners. For example, the limit does not apply if three different English teams win the Champions League in a four-year period.
FIFA confirms date for the FIFA World Cup 2026 final
In yet another announcement from FIFA, Argentina will be reigning world champion until at least Sunday, July 19, 2026. On that day, the final of the next World Cup will be played in Canada, the United States and Mexico.
The world football association also announced how the format will work prior to their congress in Rwanda. 32 of the 48 participants will advance to the knockout phase. In twelve groups of four teams, a division that was ultimately preferred to a set-up with sixteen groups of three. These are all numbers one and two, as well as the eight best numbers three.
FIFA has not yet announced on which day the tournament will start, but it seems certain that the tournament will also last longer: this format will add forty matches. Due to the blood-curdling denouement in the group stage of the last World Cup, FIFA would have decided to stick to groups with four teams.
